What does it mean to exist in complex relationships with machines? What insights can be offered to our understandings of these relationships by the theologically significant theme of ‘love’? What critical assessments can be made of our multiple uses of technologies in shaping our futures, by reflecting on our pasts?

Disquiet over the prevalence of social and economic individualism has a long history. In a world of mobile Capital and increasingly mobile people, communities of common tradition and locality appear to be under threat from the advent of a fragmented market society. Are these complaints against individualism justified? And crucially, how should Christians respond to them? Digging down into the substance of these questions, this project will consider the theological, liturgical and scriptural resources Christians have for understanding the notion of individualism in relation to issues of education, public life and the formation of democratic citizenship.

Welcome to the Spring 2010 issue of the Institute’s newsletter. Much has happened at the Institute since the last newsletter was published in summer 2009. As I write, advanced preparations are underway to host the second, international, colloquium of the Belonging & Heimat project at the University of Manchester in May and a rough cut of the LTI climate change film, ‘Beyond the Tipping Point?” is being produced. There is more information on both these developments, and the recent Divinity after Empire meeting in Bangalore, elsewhere in this newsletter. A number of publications by members of the Institute have also appeared; please see inside for more details.I hope the activities presented here catch your interest. Click here to read more...